Just watched this on YouTube. It stars Betty Hutton, Alan Ladd, Susan Hayward, and William Bendix with the first two as a couple who's trying to save the war bonds for the future and the other using them to buy a really fine house at present time. After that segment is over, a supposed government official tells and shows the balance between spending money and consumer goods before then showing those same couples in a peaceful future with Hutton & Ladd now living luxuriously and Hayward & Bendix not so much. I'll stop there and just say this was quite interesting a take on what it was like living during the years of World War II with all the talk about bonds and trying to save money and all that. So on that note, Skirmish on the Home Front is worth a look for anyone interested in these vintage public service shorts.
3 Reviews
Paddling Your Canoe Through The Swift Waters Of Wartime Prosperity
boblipton20 July 2023
Married couples Alan Ladd & Betty Hutton, William Bendix & Susan Hayward -- as Miss Hayward remarks, with a war on, husbands are in short supply -- appear in two skits: in the first, Ladd refuses to cash in his war bonds to buy a house; in the second, we get a look at the house he buys after the war. In between the two, we get a lecture on how saving money in wartime, when consumer goods are in short supply, helps curb inflation, with lots of long words.
It was the standard received wisdom of the time, and within limits, it still applies. I wish I had Ladd's post-war house. It looks futuristic seventy years later!
It was the standard received wisdom of the time, and within limits, it still applies. I wish I had Ladd's post-war house. It looks futuristic seventy years later!
A rather dry propaganda film featuring some top talent...and Ladd is particularly wooden.
planktonrules22 June 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This is a short film made by Paramount studios for the US government to boost the war effort. It also happens to have some stars who would soon be mega-stars--with Alan Ladd and Betty Button as Mr. and Mrs. Average (I kid you not) as well as William Bendix and Susan Hayward as the Millers.
The film begins with Mrs. Average and Mrs. Miller talking about moving to a bigger, better house. However, Mr. Average shames them---saying that this will contribute to wartime inflation and will end up hurting the country. And, what's more, it seems very unpatriotic and ignores the servicemen giving their lives to think about our own self interests. The Millers, however, buy that house.
This is interrupted by a boring lecture by some dull square.
Then you see the Millers and Averages after the war. The Averages waited to buy the house and now they have a home with MORE futuristic gadgets than the Jetson's home! And, the Millers are stuck with a high interest rate on a crappy older home. That's what you get for being an unpatriotic jerk...or so the film implies.
There isn't much to say about this film other than it's preachy yet interesting considering the stars. As for Alan Ladd, he's really wooden in his performance...as if he's half asleep. Watchable but far from a must see. More an interesting curio than anything else.
The film begins with Mrs. Average and Mrs. Miller talking about moving to a bigger, better house. However, Mr. Average shames them---saying that this will contribute to wartime inflation and will end up hurting the country. And, what's more, it seems very unpatriotic and ignores the servicemen giving their lives to think about our own self interests. The Millers, however, buy that house.
This is interrupted by a boring lecture by some dull square.
Then you see the Millers and Averages after the war. The Averages waited to buy the house and now they have a home with MORE futuristic gadgets than the Jetson's home! And, the Millers are stuck with a high interest rate on a crappy older home. That's what you get for being an unpatriotic jerk...or so the film implies.
There isn't much to say about this film other than it's preachy yet interesting considering the stars. As for Alan Ladd, he's really wooden in his performance...as if he's half asleep. Watchable but far from a must see. More an interesting curio than anything else.
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